Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM's reply to the Motion of Thanks to President's address in Rajya Sabha
Honourable Chairman,
As I am participating in the discussion on the motion of thanks on the President's address, I extend my humble gratitude to the Honourable President and congratulate her. Honourable Chairman, while addressing both the Houses, she has presented a blueprint for a developed India and a road map for the resolutions of a developed India.
Honourable Chairman,
I also express my gratitude to all the members who participated in this discussion. They have tried to expand the discussion as per my imagination and therefore I thank all the respected members for participating in the House and the discussion.
Honourable Chairman, this House is the House of the States. In the past decades, several intellectuals have given direction to the country from this House; they have guided the nation. There are many friends in this House, who have made various achievements in their personal lives as well, have done great things in their personal lives; and therefore, whatever happens in this House, the country is very much concerned about that. The nation listens to it closely and takes it very seriously.
I would say this to the honourable members that some had mud while I had gulal , and some resorted to mud-slinging. However, it is good because the more you resort to mud-slinging, the more the Lotus will bloom. And that's why I express my gratitude to them for whatever contribution you have made in making the Lotus blossom, directly or indirectly.
Honourable chairman
Yesterday, our senior colleague from the opposition, respected Kharge ji, had said that "we have built a strong foundation in 60 years". His complaint was that they built the foundation and Modi was taking the credit. But honourable Chairman, after coming to power in 2014, when I tried to see things closely and to get hold of information myself, I could see that even though the Congress family might have intended to build a strong foundation for 60 years, I don't want to comment on that, but after 2014, I came and saw that they had only dug potholes. Their intention might have been to build the foundation, but they had only dug out pits. And honourable Chairman, while digging the pits, they had wasted 6 decades! At that time even smaller countries of the world were touching the heights of success and moving forward.
Honourable Chairman,
They had such a good atmosphere that year because they used to run governments from the Panchayat to Parliament. Even this country used to support them with many hopes and expectations. But they had developed such a working style and work culture, because of which they had never even thought of coming up with permanent solutions to a single challenge. They had never suggested it, nor did they ever try. When there was a lot of commotion, they used to touch upon things, or resort to totalism, and would go ahead. It was their responsibility to solve the problems. The people of the country were struggling with problems. The people of the country knew that the solution to the problem could bring huge benefits. But their priority was different, their intentions were different and because of that they did not try to find a permanent solution to anything.
Honourable Chairman,
The identity of our government has been made because of our efforts, due to the steps taken one after the other and today we are moving towards a permanent solution. We are not the people who run away just by touching each and every issue, but we are moving forward by emphasizing on permanent solutions to the basic needs of the country.
Honourable Chairman,
If I take the example of water, there was a time when after a hand pump was installed in a village, it was celebrated for a whole week and as a token, vehicles were run. Yesterday Gujarat was being referred to here. You would be surprised that a Chief Minister who was proud of winning the maximum number of seats had gone to inaugurate a water tank in a city. And that was the main news on the front page. So, the country has seen the culture of what 'tokenism of problems' is and how work is avoided. We also made ways to solve the water problem. We paid attention to every aspect of water conservation and water irrigation. We involved the public with the 'catch the rain' campaign. Moreover, since before independence till our government came into power, only 3 crore houses had tapped water supply.
Honourable Chairman,
But in the last 3-4 years, today, 11 crore houses are getting tapped water supply. The problem of water is the problem of every family. Life cannot go on without it and looking at the possibilities of the future, we have chosen ways to solve it.
Honourable Chairman,
I also want to touch upon another topic - Empowerment of Common People. Banks were nationalized with the excuse that the poor should get the right of banks. But more than half of the people of this country could not reach the doors of the banks. We found permanent solutions and launched a campaign for 'Jan Dhan accounts', motivated the banks and took them onboard. In the last 9 years alone, 48 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts were opened. Among these, 32 crore bank accounts have been opened in rural areas and towns. That is, an attempt has been made to take the example of progress to the villages of the country. Yesterday Kharge ji was complaining that Modi ji comes to my constituency again and again. He was saying – Modi ji comes to Kalburgi. I want to say to Kharge ji, before complaining about my visits, first look at the fact that 1 crore 70 lakh Jan Dhan bank accounts have been opened in Karnataka. Moreover, more than 8 lakh Jan Dhan accounts have been opened in Kalburgi, in his area.
Now Mr. Chairman, tell me, should so many bank accounts be opened, should there be so much empowerment and awareness but then the account gets shut down after so many years... I can understand their pain. Now their pain is visible time and again. I am surprised that sometimes they even say that a Dalit has been defeated! But we must understand that these are the people of the same area who have made another Dalit win. Today the public is rejecting you and removing you from power, closing down your account but you are shedding your tears here.
Honourable Chairman,
Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile is the trinity and it has transferred 27 lakh crore rupees in the bank accounts of the citizens of this country in the last few years under the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme and I am glad that due to the use of this Direct Benefit Transfer technology, more than 2 lakh crore rupees of this country's money which used to go into a wrong ecosystem, in the wrong hands has been saved. It has done a great service to the country. And I know that it is very natural for the followers of that wrong ecosystem who used to get similar benefits of Rs 2 lakh crore to feel sad about it.
Honourable Chairman,
Earlier in our country, stalling, delaying and diverting projects had become a part of their work culture; this was their way of working. The hard-earned money of the honest tax-payers was at a loss. We have prepared a technology platform, the 'PM Gatishakti master plan' and the work of speeding up these infrastructure projects is going on with the help of data in 1600 layers. The plans which used to take months to get ready are now being carried forward within weeks because we understand very well the importance of infrastructure for building a modern India as also the importance of scale. Honourable Chairman, we understand the importance of speed and we are trying to bring permanent solutions and address permanent aspiration through technology.
Honourable Chairman,
When anyone enters the government, he comes with promises of doing something for the country. He comes with promises of doing something good for the public. But just expressing feelings is not enough. One can say that 'we want this, we want that', like the slogan of 'Garibi Hatao' but 4 decades had passed and nothing happened. That's why what is the speed of development? What is the intention of development? What is the direction of development? What is the effort of development and what is its result? These matter a lot. So, merely claiming that you used to do something is not enough.
Honourable Chairman,
While we work hard towards the needs of the public on the basis of their priorities, the pressure also increases on us as such big needs are being taken care of. We have to work harder. But as Mahatma Gandhi used to say - 'shrey'  and 'Priya' . We have chosen the path of 'shrey' . We have not chosen the path where resting is priority, but the one where we work tirelessly every day and night to fulfil the aspirations of the common people. We will continue to work so that the aspirations are converted into achievements and the country crosses the path of development. We are the people who carry all these dreams and we have done that.
Honourable Chairman,
Now you see, since the country became independent till the year 2014, there were only 14 crore LPG connections and there was a demand from the people as well. People used to go to MPs to get LPG connections and at that time there were 14 crore households, the demand was less, the pressure was also less. You did not have to pay for getting the gas, just arrangements to deliver the gas. The vehicle used to run but the work was not done. People kept waiting. But we decided from the front that we will give LPG connections to every household. We knew we were doing it, we had to work hard. We knew we would have to spend money. We knew we would have to bring gas from all over the world. Despite knowing the possibility of simultaneous pressure, our priority was the citizens of my country. Our priority was the common people of our country and that is why we provided gas connections to more than 32 crore families. New infrastructure had to be created and money had to be spent.
Honourable Chairman,
With this one example you can understand how hard we must have worked. But we worked hard with joy, with satisfaction, with pride and I am glad that the common man is satisfied. What could be a greater satisfaction for a government than this?
Honourable Chairman,
Even after several decades of independence, there were more than 18,000 villages in this country where electricity had not reached and these villages were mostly villages of our tribal settlements. There were villages of people living in our mountains. There were tribal villages. There were villages in the North East, but this did not fit into their election calculation. That's why these villages were not given priority. We knew that they had given up this difficult task. We said that we are ones who leave indelible marks and not delible ones. We will take up this challenge as well and also resolve to provide electricity to every village. Electricity was provided to 18,000 villages within the time limit and a new lease of life was experienced in the villages behind this challenging task. They not only tasted development but most importantly their confidence in the system of the country increased and trust is a great power. When the confidence of the citizens of the country is built, it turns into lakhs and crores times more powerful. We won that trust and we worked hard, we had to do it, but I am glad that after so many years of independence, a new ray of hope has been seen in those remote villages. There is a sense of satisfaction and we are getting their blessings today.
Honourable Chairman,
During the regime of earlier governments, electricity used to be there for only a few hours. It seemed like electricity had reached the place but just a pole was erected in the middle of the village, and its anniversary was celebrated every year. The pillar was installed on such and such date. But, there was no electricity. Not only has electricity reached today, but we have also been successful in our effort to provide electricity for 22 hours on an average in our country. We had to install new transmission lines for this work. We had to work for new energy production. We had to opt for solar energy. We had to find many areas of renewable energy. We did not leave people to their fate. We didn't think of political gains or losses. We chose the path to make the future of the country bright. We increased the pressure on ourselves. People's demand started increasing and pressure started increasing. We chose the path of hard work and today the country is seeing its results. The country is achieving heights of progress in the field of energy.
Honourable Chairman,
We took a very courageous step in the 'Azadi Ka Amritkaal'. I know it has not been easy, we have had to work very hard. And we have chosen that path of saturation. We have tried to ensure that the beneficiaries of every scheme get 100 percent benefits and the benefits reach them without any hindrance. And I say, if there is true secularism then this is it, and the government is walking on that path with great honesty. We have taken the resolution of Saturation in Amrit Kaal. This is the resolution of the BJP NDA government to take 100 percent benefits to the beneficiaries.
Honourable Chairman,
This topic of '100%' or 'saturation' is the solution to many problems of the country. It is not only the solution to the problems of a citizen, but also the solution to the problems of the country. We are coming up with such a new work culture, which is the way to end all these differences in the country.
Reaching Saturation means ending all scope for discrimination. When there is distinction, then corruption also gets a chance to creep in. If someone says - "give me fast", then the other would say -"I will give you only if you give me this much". But if he wants to go 100%, then he has confidence that even if it did not reach me this month, it will reach me after three months, but it will reach me for sure. The confidence increases. It ends the apprehensions of appeasement like a particular caste, family, village, community of sect will get and others won't. This puts an end to all appeasement apprehensions. It completely eradicates the tendency to give benefits on the basis of selfishness and protects the rights of the person last in line in the society. Mahatma Gandhi always advocated for that section of the society. And we are ensuring that the rights of that neglected section of the society are protected. And 'Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas' means 100% delivery of their rights.
When the government machinery aims to reach every eligible person, then discrimination and favouritism cannot survive. That's why this '100% Seva Abhiyan' is a very powerful medium for social justice. This is the real guarantee of social justice. This is true secularism.
We are giving this model of development to the country, in which all the stakeholders get their rights. The country is with us, the country is repeatedly rejecting the Congress, but the Congress and its allies do not desist from their conspiracies and the public is watching this and has been punishing them at every step.
Honourable Chairman,
Pick any decade of the freedom struggle from 1857 to the independence of our country and pick any region of India, the contribution of the tribals of my country in the freedom struggle of my country is full of golden pages. The country is proud of the fact that my tribal brothers understood the greatness of freedom. But for decades my tribal brothers were deprived of development and the bridge of trust was never built. Rather a system full of apprehensions was created. And questions for the governments kept arising in the minds of those youths again and again. But if they had worked with the right intention, if they had worked with good intention, if they had worked with dedication towards the welfare of the tribals, then today in the third decade of 21st century, I would not have had to work so hard, but they did not. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government was formed, for the first time in this country, a separate ministry was formed for the development of tribals; for the first time a separate budget was arranged for the welfare of the tribals and their development.
Honourable Chairman,
We have identified 110 districts as aspirational districts, which have lagged behind in development. It is equally necessary to provide justice to those who have been left behind geographically. And that is why we have 110 aspirational districts and more than half of the 110 are areas where the majority of the population is tribal, where my tribal brothers and sisters reside. More than three crore tribal brothers have received direct benefit from this. There has been a change in their lives. In these areas, there has been an unprecedented improvement in education, health and infrastructure, because we have focused on 110 districts and are monitoring them regularly.
Here some of our honourable members had mentioned about the tribal sub-plan. I request such friends to spare some time and sit with the help of an educated person who can study the budget and explain a little more. And if you see, you will know that the 'scheduled tribe component funds' in the budget have increased five times more compared to pre-2014 period.
Honourable Chairman,
Before 2014, when their government was in power, the allocation used to be around 20-25 thousand crore rupees. This is not a very old incident. Today, they are throwing accusations. But we have come and made a provision of 1 lakh 20 thousand crores this year. We have sanctioned 500 new Eklavya Model Schools in the last 9 years for the bright future of our tribal brothers and sisters, for the bright future of those children and this is a four times increase. Moreover, this time we have made a provision for the recruitment of 38 thousand new people, teachers and staff in schools in this budget. Our government is dedicated to the welfare of tribals. I would like to take you a bit towards the matter of the Forest Rights Act.
Honourable Chairman,
Since the country became independent until before our regime, before 2014, 14 lakh land leases were given to the tribal families. In the last 7-8 years, we have given 60 lakh new leases. This is unprecedented work. Before our regime, 23 thousand community leases were given, while after our arrival more than 80 thousand community pattas or leases have been given. If they had done something fruitful instead of playing with the sentiments of the tribals naming it as 'deep sympathy', I would not have had to work so hard today and this work could have been done easily earlier. But this was not under their priority.
Honourable Chairman,
Their economic policies, social policies and politics continued on the basis of vote bank. And because of that, they always ignored the basic strength of the society, the ability to increase the economic activity of the country with self-employment. To them they seemed so small and scattered that those who were involved in small jobs had no value. They do value addition in the society without becoming a burden on the society with self-employment, but these crores of people engaged in small work were forgotten. I am proud that we have taken care of the convenience of the street vendors and people engaged in businesses on the footpath, whose lives were earlier destroyed in the pursuit of interest payment. They had to spend all their hard earned money on returning the loaned amount with interest to. the moneylenders. But we took care of those poor people; we took care of those street vendors. And honourable Chairman, not only this, our Vishwakarma community who play a role in the construction of the society, who keep creating something or the other with the help of their hand tools and fulfill the needs of the society in a major way. We have taken care of them as well, be it our Banjara community or our nomadic people. Be it PM Swanidhi Yojana or the PM Vishwakarma Yojana, we have worked through these schemes for the strength of these people of the society and have worked to increase their potential.
Honourable Chairman,
You yourself are the son of a farmer. What all have the farmers of this country been through? Some upper classes were taken care of and this is how they kept running their politics. This process continued. The true strength of this country's agriculture lies in the small farmers. Those who produce yield in one acre or two acres of land with a lot of difficulty for 80-85 percent of the population of the country. These small farmers were neglected; no one was going to listen to their voice. Our government focused on small farmers. We linked small farmers with formal banking. Today, funds from PM Kisan Samman Nidhi are directly deposited in the accounts of small farmers 3 times a year. Not only this, we also linked cattle rearers with banks; we linked fishermen with banks and increased their economic potential by giving them interest subvention, so that they could develop their business and change their crop-pattern. We worked in that direction so that the crops could be taken to the market after getting a fair price from the government.
Honourable Chairman,
We know that there are many farmers in our country who have to use rain water. The previous governments did not make any arrangements for irrigation. We have also seen that these small farmers are cultivating millets that can grow with rain water because there was hardly any water. We have given a special place to the farmers who cultivate these coarse grains/millets. We wrote to the UN to celebrate the millet year. There should be a branding of coarse grains of India in the world; marketing should be done and now that coarse grain should be given the glorious identity of 'Shri Anna'. Shri Anna should be recognised in the same way as 'Shrifal'. The small farmers who produce it should get reasonable prices for their crops and a global market. The crop-pattern should change in the country. Moreover, millet is a superfood, a great source of nutrition. These will also be useful in solving the problem of nutrition for the new generation of our country, which will also strengthen my small farmer. We have also developed several new options in terms of fertilizer and have also received benefits from that.
Honourable Chairman,
I believe with great conviction that when the participation of mothers and sisters in the decision making process increases, the results are good, quick and the goals set become achievable. Our government is working to ensure that the participation of mothers and sisters increases; and they join us in the decision-making processes. Our government has given priority to the development of women's leadership as well as women empowerment. One of our respected members in the House had questioned if there would be any development of women just by providing toilets to women? Probably his focus was only on the toilet, and that could be his problem but I just want to say that I feel proud of it because I have come from a state and I have lived in the village. I am proud that by constructing 11 crore toilets, I have honoured my mothers and sisters by giving them 'Izzat-Ghar'. I am proud of this. Take a look at the life cycle of our mothers, sisters and our daughters, I want to draw attention to how sensitive our government is towards the empowerment of mothers and sisters. And those whose thoughts are only confined to toilets should listen very clearly so that it will be convenient for them later. We started the Matru vandana Yojana to ensure that the child gets nutritious food during pregnancy and for this money goes directly to the woman's bank account during pregnancy, so that the nutrition benefits the health of the child in her womb. One way to get rid of this serious problem of maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate in our country is institutional delivery. We have decided to spend money for the institutional delivery of the poorest of the poor mothers, so that the child is born in the hospital and so we have launched a massive campaign. And its results are also visible. We know that due to some sick mentality , the tendency to kill daughters in the mother's womb itself had increased. It was a stigma for society. We launched Beti Bachao Abhiyan and today I am glad that the number of daughters is increasing as compared to the number of sons being born. This is a matter of immense satisfaction for us. We have worked on protecting the daughters. Earlier when the daughter grew up and went to school, she would drop out of the school in fifth, sixth grade due to lack of toilets. We addressed that concern as well and made separate toilets for girls in schools, so that the girls do not have to drop out of schools. We thought about this aspect. To ensure continued education for daughters, we arranged for safe education of daughters by giving more interest under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, so that the family also encourages them to study. When the daughter grows up and is ready for the job market, she can independently work with loans without guarantee under the Mudra Yojana and I am glad that 70 percent of the beneficiaries of Mudra Yojana are our mothers and daughters. We have done this work.
In order to be able to continue working even after becoming a mother, we have increased the maternity leave, which is sometimes more than that of the developed country. We have done this work. Sainik schools have been opened for daughters.
Honourable Chairman,
You yourself have been a student of Sainik School. Daughters were not allowed to enter these schools. But we ensured that today my daughters are studying in Sainik Schools. Moreover, our daughters are not weak; they want to join the army; they want to become officers. The doors of the army have also been opened for our daughters. And today I feel proud that a daughter of my country is deployed in Siachen to protect Mother India.
To ensure that our daughters get earning opportunities in the villages, we made a value addition to the Women's Self Help Group and gave it a new power. We increased the amount she gets from banks a lot and that too for her progress. We provided gas connections through Ujjwala Yojana to ensure that the sisters did not have to face problems in life due to the smoke of wood. With tapped water supply, we ensured that our mothers, sisters and daughters do not have to struggle for drinking water; and they do not have to walk for 2-4 kilometers for water. To ensure that they don't have to live in the dark, we provided electricity to such poor families through Saubhagya Yojana. No matter how serious the illness of the daughter, mother or sister may be, she never reveals. She is worried that the children will be in debt, and the family will become burdened. So, she suffers, but does not tell her children about her illness. By providing Ayushman cards to those mothers and sisters, we have provided a major solution to get rid of any serious diseases with treatment in the hospitals.
Honourable Chairman,
We believe that the daughter should have the right over the property, so we fixed the right of the daughter over the houses provided by the government, and ensured that the property is under her name. Savings is the nature of our mothers and sisters. It is the nature of mothers and sisters to save despite facing difficulties. And they survive with the money they save and keep in their foodgrain boxes at home. To get them out of that trouble, we gave him Jan Dhan accounts so that they could deposit money in the banks.
And honourable Chairman,
It is a matter of great pride for this budget session as the budget session has been started by the woman President and the budget session has been formally started with the speech of a woman Finance Minister. Never before has such a coincidence happened in the country like today. And we would try to ensure such auspicious opportunities in future as well.
Honourable Chairman,
As the country has to modernize and fulfil new resolutions, then we cannot deny the power of science and technology. Our government understands the department of science and technology very well. But we don't think in pieces; we don't think in terms of tokenism. We are working in every direction to take the country forward in terms of science and technology; we are making concerted efforts and taking every initiative. And therefore, to develop Scientific Temperament in childhood, through Atal Tinkering Labs, we have given opportunities to the children at the school level to develop a scientific temper. If the child goes a little beyond that and starts doing something more, we have set up Atal Incubation Centers for that so that if there is good progress then it should get an atmosphere so that the idea and that innovation could be useful for getting converted into technology. We have changed the policies for this. We have fulfilled the dream of private participation in the field of space and I am glad that my youth of the country have the power to release private satellites, this is science and technology. Today, in the world of startups which are basically linked to science and technology, we have reached rank three in the world in terms of the number of unicorns.
Honourable Chairman,
Today this country will be proud of the fact that today the youth of my country are coming forward in registering a maximum number of patents.
Honourable Chairman,
Our government has shown what the power of Aadhaar is and the experts associated with Aadhaar have also said that the importance of Aadhaar and technology was understood after 2014 and because of that hard work is now paying off. We have seen that during Covid, the CoWIN platform received 200 crore vaccinations. The certificate of CoWIN was available on your mobile within a second. But the world was surprised especially when India had come up with its own vaccine against Covid-19. The people around the world used to pressurize in various ways to sell their vaccines here; articles used to be written, seminars were held and TV interviews used to take place. Moreover, several strong attempts were made to defame the scientists of my country, to humiliate them. But the scientists of my country have not only fulfilled the needs of my countrymen but also of the people of other countries with such a vaccine which has been approved in the world today. These people are against science and technology...
Honourable Chairman,
They are against science and technology, and they don't leave any chance to defame our scientists. Our country is emerging as a major power in the world of pharmacy, and turning into a hub of pharmacy in the world. Our youth are making new innovations. These people are looking for ways to defame that. They are not concerned about the country but their political ups and downs. And this is unfortunate for the country.
Honourable Chairman,
Today I was in Bali. The G20 countries used to fight to understand Digital India. The success has influenced the whole world. Today India has become the leader of the world in terms of digital transactions.
Honourable Chairman,
We are glad that today more than 100 crore mobile phones are in the hands of my countrymen.
Honourable Chairman,
There was a time when we used to import mobiles. Today we are proud that our country is exporting mobiles. Be it 5G, be it AI, be it IoT, today the country is adopting and expanding that technology at a very fast pace.
To ensure that drones are used in daily lives, for the welfare of the common citizens, we reformed the policies and today the work of delivering medicines to remote areas with drones is being done in my country. Through science and technology, my farmer is undertaking drone training in the field today. The use of drones in farming is visible in my villages today. We opened the doors in the Geo-spatial sector. We opened up opportunities for the drone sector to further evolve. Today, organisations like the UN discuss that people around the world do not have the ownership rights of their land and house. The UN's concern is the world. With the help of drones, India has done the work of giving maps as well as ownership rights to the houses in the villages through the Swamitva Yojana. They have a sense of security now. They don't have to run from one court to the other and don't have to worry about losing possession of their house. We have achieved success in making full use of technology for the common man.
Today, we understand the dream of a modern developed India in the field of technology; we understand its greatness and therefore human resource development, innovation hold immense importance and that is why the world's only 'Forensic Science University' is in our country. We have taken a new initiative in the world of infrastructure by creating 'Gati Shakti University'. Today, we have taken a new leap in the field of renewable energy by setting up an 'Energy University'. We are working towards preparing our youth from now on. In our country, Congress has left no stone unturned during its rule in hating technocrats, engineers, and science, whereas we have left no stone unturned in respecting science and technology during our tenure, this is our way.
Honourable Chairman,
Employment was also discussed here. I am surprised that those who claim to have led the longest public life do not know that there is a difference between job and employment. Those who do not understand the difference between job and employment are preaching to us!
Honourable Chairman,
Efforts are being made to create new narratives and to spread lies with half knowledge. With the expansion of the economies in the last 9 years, new possibilities of employment have increased in new sectors. Today, the way the country is moving forward in the green economy, huge possibilities of green jobs have arisen on the ground and more possibilities remain. With the expansion of Digital India, a new area of digital economy has also emerged. Today, Digital India is at a new height in the service sector. Five lakh common service centers are there. 2-5 people earn their livelihood in each common service center inside the village and even in small villages in remote forests. The common service center is necessary for our country today. Arrangements have been made to make the services available to the villagers at the click of a button. Digital economy has created many new job opportunities.
Honourable Chairman,
90 thousand registered startups have also opened new doors of employment. More than one crore people have been added to the EPFO pay-rolls during April to November, 2022, more than one crore people!
Honourable Chairman,
Through the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana more than 60 lakh new employees have been benefitted. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, we have opened many sectors like space, defence, drone, mining, coal for our entrepreneurs, due to which there has been a new momentum in the possibilities of employment. And see, our youth have come forward and have grabbed the opportunities from all these initiatives; they have taken advantage of it.
Honourable Chairman,
It is imperative that this country becomes self-reliant in the field of defence. I am glad that we have undertaken the mission of self-reliance in the field of defence. Today more than 350 private companies have come forward in the field of defense and my country is exporting about one lakh crore rupees worth equipment in the field of defense and an unprecedented employment has been created in this field as well.
Honourable Chairman,
Every sector has expanded from retail to tourism. Khadi and village industries, the system which is associated with Mahatma Gandhi, had also drowned. After independence, the maximum record-breaking work in the Khadi village industry has happened in our period. Record investment is being made in infrastructure, be it for rail, road, port or airport, or Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Employment opportunities have increased in all these infrastructure works, the material used for that etc. Everywhere in the construction work, there are possibilities of all kinds of employment, from the position of laborers to mechanics, from engineers to workers and because of that, today youth is rejecting the people who had taken anti-youth policies. And today the country is accepting the policies we have framed for the welfare of the youth.
Honourable Chairman,
Objections were also raised regarding the names of the schemes of the government. Some people also have trouble with the Sanskrit touch in certain names. Now, this is also a problem.
Respected Mr. Chairman,
I had read in some newspaper. Although I have not verified it, the report was saying that as many as 600 government schemes were named after the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Honourable Chairman,
If Nehru ji's name is not mentioned in any programme, some people get annoyed and their blood boils with rage.
Honourable Chairman,
Sometimes Nehru ji's name is left out by us by mistake. And if it is left out, we would correct it because he was the first Prime Minister of the country. But I do not understand why a person of his generation is afraid of using the Nehru surname? Is there any shame in using the Nehru surname? If such a great personality is not acceptable to you, or to the family, why do you keep asking us?
Honourable Chairman,
Some people have to understand that this centuries-old country has been a country built by the sweat and effort of common man, a country built by the tradition of generations of people. This country is not the property of any family. We have Khel Ratna awards named after Major Dhyan Chand, we have named islands in Andaman after Netaji Subhash, as Swaraj. We are proud of it. The country is proud of the contribution of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. We are proud of it.
Not only this, we have named these islands after the Paramveer Chakra awardees. There are people who never miss an opportunity to humiliate our country's army. For centuries to come, one Himalayan peak became Everest after a person called Everest. My island groups were named after my Paramveer Chakra winners, soldiers of my country. This is our devotion and we walk ahead with it. And this is troubling you and the pain is also being expressed. Everyone's way of expressing their grievances is different, but our way is positive.
Now this House holds, in a way, the greatness of the states. Sometimes we are also accused of troubling the states.
Honourable Chairman,
I have come to this position after remaining the Chief Minister of a state for a long time. I understand very well the importance of federalism. I have come here after living there. And that's why we have emphasized cooperative competitive federalism. We have moved in the direction of - "Let us compete, let us move forward, let us cooperate, let us move forward". We have also taken care of national progress in our policies and have also addressed regional aspirations. The perfect combination of 'national progress and regional aspiration' is reflected in our policies as we all together are moving forward to fulfil the dream of a developed India by 2047.
But the people who are sitting in the opposition today have torn apart the rights of the states. Let me reveal all the secrets today. Take a look at the history and see, which party was it, who were the people in power who misused Article 356 the most? Who had toppled elected governments 90 times? Who did this? Who did this? Who did this?
Honourable Chairman,
A Prime Minister used Article 356 fifty times, making half a century! And she is Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Governments were toppled 50 times. Those who are from Kerala today, just try to recall. Please put a mic there. Leftist government was elected in Kerala which Pandit Nehru did not like. The first elected government was toppled within a short span of time. Today you are standing there. Try to recall what had happened to you.
Honourable Chairman,
Let me tell the allies of DMK as well. The governments of stalwarts like MGR and Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu, those governments were also dismissed by the same Congressmen. MGR's soul must be watching you. Sitting behind is the senior member of this House, whom I always consider a respected leader, Mr. Sharad Pawar. Sharad Pawar ji was 35-40 years old in 1980. A young Chief Minister had gone out to serve his mother, but his government was also toppled. Today he is there.
He had harassed every regional leader and what did he do with NTR? Some people here must have changed clothes, or name as per astrology. But they were with him. NTR had gone to America for his health-related issue, and you tried to topple the NTR government. This was the level of Congress politics.
Honourable Chairman,
Take out the newspapers and read; every newspaper used to write that the Raj Bhavans were converted into Congress offices and headquarters. In 2005, the NDA had more seats in Jharkhand but the Governor had invited the UPA for the oath. In Haryana in 1982, the BJP and Devi Lal had a pre-poll agreement with them, despite that the Governor had invited the Congress to form the government. This is Congress's past and today they are misleading the country.
Honourable Chairman,
I want to know one thing; and I also want to draw attention to a serious issue now. I have touched on important topics and today those who do not understand economic policies in the country, who do not think of anything other than politics 24 hours a day, who only see the work of public life in playing the games of power, have converted economics into a 'disaster-policy'.
I want to warn them and I want to ask them with the seriousness of this House to go to their respective states and prevent them from traversing the wrong path. Look at the condition of our neighbouring countries. What has happened there? How have the countries sunk by taking loans indiscriminately? Today, even in our country, if we are paying for some immediate benefits, then the future generation will have to pay for it later. We will take loans and the future will suffer. It's like the GPO game - 'Let the successor handle', which has been adopted by some states. They will not only destroy themselves but also will destroy the country.
Now these countries are getting buried under the burden of debt. Today no one in the world is ready to give them loans; they are going through troubles.
There may be political or ideological differences; parties may have some complaints against each other, but don't play with the economic health of the country. Do not commit such a sin that takes away the rights of your children for enjoying yourselves today. Don't run away leaving the fate of the children in ruins. Do not do that. Today you are politically ... I have seen that a Chief Minister had made a statement that - 'it is okay now, I am taking a decision now. The trouble might show up after 2030-32. Whoever comes will suffer'. Does any country think like this? But this strategy being developed is a matter of great concern.
Honourable Chairman,
For the economic health of the country, the states will also have to choose the path of discipline in relation to their economic health and only then the states will also be able to take advantage of this journey of development and we will also be able to work for the welfare of the citizens of their states, because we want to take the benefits to them.
Honourable Chairman,
In 2047, this country will become a developed India. This is the resolution of all of us, the resolution of 140 crore countrymen. Now the country is not ready to look back, the country is ready to take a long leap. You didn't address those who had the dream of two square meals a day but we have addressed them. You didn't address the one who expected social justice, but we have addressed their problems. We have taken several steps to provide those opportunities which we often used to search for and we should walk with determination to fulfil the dreams of an independent India.
And honourable Chairman,
The country is watching how one single person is overpowering so many! They have to double down even for raising slogans. Honourable Chairman, I walk with conviction; I live for the country; I have come out to do something for the country. And that's why these people playing political games don't have that courage. They are searching for a way to escape.
Honourable Chairman,
Congratulating and thanking the President's excellent, guiding and inspiring speech in this House, I conclude my speech by expressing gratitude to you too!
DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.